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Mapping, characterization and genesis of mine soils on a reclamation research area in Wise County, Virginia.
... Soil compaction restricts plant root development and reduces the available water holding capacity of the growth medium layer. Daniels & Amos (1981) found compaction was the major soil factor limiting long-term revegetation success at a reclaimed mine site in Virginia. According to Straker (2019), most soils with a dry density above 1,600 kg/m 3 (~80 to 85% of standard Proctor maximum dry density) will inhibit plant root development. ...
Modern management of uranium mine or mill waste storage facilities (WSFs) often requires that they be remediated or decommissioned with a cover system. In addition to creating a self-sustaining landscape that supports the end land use, cover systems are intended to reduce long-term risks to human and ecological receptors from the stored waste to acceptable levels. The performance and longevity of a cover system will be strongly influenced by the features or shapes of the WSF final landform. Hence, cover systems and landforms must be thought of as an integrated design. Based on the author's experience, the most important elements of the design process for maximizing the potential of WSF final landforms / cover systems being sustainable over the long term are noted in this manuscript. Several key items that must be considered and addressed during the planning phase of constructing a WSF final landform are also described. Various methods for monitoring performance of a WSF final landform are also reviewed. Key aspects associated with decommissioning a tailings WSF and waste rock pile at the former Cluff Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan are included to illustrate many of the practical insights provided in this paper.
... This horizon is distinguished from subsoil by the accumulation of SOM, loose soils due to root growth, and soil structure development. In a chronosequence study of mine soil reclamation in southwest Virginia, Daniels and Amos (1981) observed that an A-horizon (up to 13 cm thick) was formed in 5-year-old reclaimed mine soils. ...
The restoration of land productivity is an integral part of the restoration of a former mining site. The mineral extraction and reclamation process must ensure return of sustainable ecosystem to former degraded land. The revegetation of mine spoil by tree cover stabilizes an ecosystem for the long term via their ameliorative effects on soil quality improving both potential commercial and aesthetic values. Plant species helps in land reclamation by allowing plant succession on mine spoils and exert catalytic effects over the degraded areas by changing underlying microclimatic conditions. The establishment of biological systems that cycle the soil nutrients is critical to the development of stable ecosystems on mined sites. In urban ecosystems, biogeochemical cycling is usually considered only in the context of management of wastes, but managed ecosystem's nutrient cycling is very important because limiting essential major elements restrict crop growth and vegetation establishment.
... This horizon is distinguished from subsoil by the accumulation of SOM, loose soils due to root growth, and soil structure development. In a chronosequence study of mine soil reclamation in southwest Virginia, Daniels and Amos (1981) observed that an A-horizon (up to 13 cm thick) was formed in 5-year-old reclaimed mine soils. ...
Revegetated mine spoils have the potential to restore nitrogen transformation rates, soil microbial biomass and increase plant biomass. Adverse physico-chemical properties in mine spoils inhibit soil-forming processes and plant growth. The major problems associated with mine spoils are the lack of SOM-associated nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, high acidity, and paucity of topsoil, which all influence soil fertility and productivity. Plant-microbe interactions and C, N cycles play a major role in soil carbon uptake. Maximizing the return of species from the seed resource in the topsoil is one of the most important aspects of restoring the full suite of pre-mining species. Biosolids are often an excellent amendment for mine soils where the original topsoil contains low OM or where topsoil substitutes such as overburden material or subsoil are used. The mechanisms responsible for stabilizing SOC may be categorized as: Physical protection, Biochemical recalcitrance and Chemical stabilization.
... This site had the lowest rooting volume (Table 2). Compaction and high coarse fragment content have been identified throughout the eastern region (Daniels and Amos, 1981;Torbert et al., 1994). WV-I also had one of the lowest base saturation levels of all study sites. ...
Modern management of mine waste storage facilities (MWSFs) often requires that they be decommissioned with a cover system. In addition to creating a self-sustaining landscape that supports the end land use, cover systems are intended to reduce long-term risks to human and ecological receptors from the underlying waste to acceptable levels. The performance and longevity of a cover system will be strongly influenced by the features and geometric configuration of the MWSF final landform. Cover systems and landforms must therefore be thought of as an integrated design. The elements of greatest importance in the design process for long-term sustainability of MWSF final landforms/cover systems based on the author’s experience are noted in this article. Several key items that must be considered and addressed during the planning phase of constructing a MWSF final landform are also described. Key aspects associated with rehabilitating a tailings impoundment and waste rock pile at the former Cluff Lake uranium mine in Saskatchewan are included to illustrate many of the practical insights detailed in this article.
Since the mid-2000s, forest re-establishment has been a common post-mining reclamation goal for Appalachian mined lands, but mine reclamation and subsequent ecological processes are often not successful at establishing post-mining communities similar to native Appalachian forests. Pre-SMCRA, mined land was sometimes left barren for natural regeneration, and sometimes revegetated with varying levels of success. Much pre-SMCRA mined land is now revegetated with trees. In places, such plant communities have achieved above-ground biomass similar to forests in unmined areas, but they often attain low species diversity and are covered by non-native invasive species. Post-SMCRA, mined lands were typically seeded with herbaceous vegetation and in some cases also planted with shrubs or trees. Because of issues such as poor soil conditions, compaction, species selection, and vegetative competition, many such sites are in “arrested succession,” and do not develop into forests on a decadal timeframe without intervention. Methods to reforest mined lands, developed in the mid-2000s, can be applied to establish functional forests on mined lands, but these approaches are not universally applied in Appalachia. Further management and restoration efforts for mined lands can increase biological productivity, improve habitat for wildlife and native plants, and increase provision of ecosystem services.
A detailed study of the chemical characteristics of minesoils derived from the Wise formation in Southwest Virginia was undertaken usinq a number of standard techniques. The minesoils studied ranged in age from 4 to 20 years, and were derived from sandstones and siltstones hioh in carbonates and iron. The wet acid-dichromate digestion organic matter technique often yields questionably high values in minesoils. In order to evaluate the effects of coal fragments on this technique we added coal fragments to a standard minesoil. The coal contents were varied from 1% to 10% of soil weight. The size of the coal fra9rnents was varied from 0.05 to 2mm. Coal particles finer than O.lmm affected the procedure, but were not completely oxidized. Larger. visible coal fragments had no effect on measured organic matter content. Errors in this procedure may be due to the oxidation of iron compounds rather than coal. In
Pedogenesis (soil formation) generally results from weathering and horizonation processes. Weathering includes processes that change the physical and chemical characteristics of soil particles, aggregates and artifacts. Horizonation results from additions, losses, translocations, and transformations of solid and chemical soil constituents. Both weathering and horizonation are affected by the five soil forming factors: climate, landscape position, organisms, parent material and time.
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